Happy Valentine’s Day! I have been wearing this Banana Republic Trench everywhere! Not only is it lightweight, it is very warm and serves as a great raincoat. Houston has been cloudy with rain for the past several weeks. We thoroughly need some rain since we are still in a drought.

With cloudy skies, it’s been hard to dress upbeat and fun. So for Valentine’s Day, I want to wear something new and bright. My extremely loud pink J. Crew Pencil Skirt combined with a J. Crew Camp skirt are what I was looking for. I do like the color combo.

I paired the outfit with my Ann Taylor Perfect Leather pumps in Black, but I wish I had found a different color. I have black shoes for boots, pumps, sandals, and flats. I need a variation.

Home for the holidays. To our family home is between Lousiana and Mississippi. My husband’s family resides in Biloxi, MS, also known as the Vegas of the South. I really do like Biloxi. It’s a small town with close knit ties. The atmosphere is very relaxing and calm. Unlike New Orleans, the views are gorgeous hillside trees and spacious expanse of skies so blue.

After Hurricane Katrina, unfortunately many places closed down. The big hotels all renovated, upping the luxe and the charm. Biloxi was hit hard and many of its streets are bare. Majority like my husband’s family moved more inland towards the city of D’Iberville. Along the Sangani Blvd, a whole new community was born. Sprawling with restaurants, shops, and new homes, everything is within 1 mile. It’s amazing how this area became the epic center of live in southern Mississippi.

And what trip would this be without a shopping excursion to the outlet mall.

Banana Republic
What amazes me is the vast differences in clothing from one store to another. Look at what I found:

The classic trench that I tried on in Houston was black. I found the exact same one in a tan color. It was alot cheaper than Houston. Houston was $99 unfortunately with no other sale. In Biloxi, it was $99 + 40% off. I still debated whether a black would suit me better. However my husband and my sister in law thought a tan colored trench is more classic and adds a different color to my wardrobe.

J. Crew is another store that I did not purchase anything from while in Houston. But in Biloxi, the deals just were too good to pass up. There was a 40% off on most items + an additional 20% when checking out. I grabbed that field jacket that gave my outfit an edge in my earlier post. I also picked up this:

Striped sweater – I probably have many striped sweaters but the color blocked sleeves caught my eye. The shoulders are like capped sleeves but continued with a color block ribbing down the arms. It’s different than any sweater I have.

I love the color purple. This satiny purple invitation clutch would have been a steal but I talked myself out of purchasing it. I had already purchased way too many purses this holiday season. But I am going to put this on my radar when I have the need for it. Lovely clutch…

After an eventful shopping day, we gorged ourselves on sushi! It has been a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNG time since I had good sushi. In Houston, you have to go towards downtown for GOOD sushi or the one in Richmond, TX which is about 20 minutes drive. However, I would be the only one making that drive since my husband and kids don’t like sushi. My husband will eat the Hibachi rice or anything terriyaki but no sushi.

My armful of clothing to the fitting also included this beautiful Faux Wrapped Dress. The material is stretchy and drapes like a wrapped dress but it really doesn’t. The wrapped dress look is great for hiding tummies and it also accentuates the waistline.

What I did not like about the dress was the deep V neck. Also the drape does not align with the hem of the dress. So you can see the inch or two of fabric dips below the hemline. That is one of my pet peeves.

I picked up this white creamy skirt. Straight cut with side pockets that I thought would not look good with my body. But I think the cut proved that it fits very well.

Another thumbs up is the striped sweater with metallic ribbons. The thin stripes totally makes my chest look ample and highlighted my waist along with the contrasting white skirt.

This Aline pleated skirt caught my eye because it looked like the Tibi Normandy skirt I had really wanted but couldn’t afford. The Banana Republic version featured a shorter length skirt opposed to the midi style of the Tibi skirt. The BR skirt had a brown floral against black while Tibi skirt was light brown against navy.

This skirt also went well with the stripes sweater. I was very pleased with my shopping success. What surprised me was the abundance selection in the petites section. I am 5’6″ not considered Petite but somehow the petite sizing works with my body. I was always frustrated that Regular Banana Republic sizing was so frumpy on me. I believe now I would shop more in the petites section.

I did not purchase anything from this shopping excursion, due to a crying baby. My little Emma decided to get cranky so I had to put off my purchase. I will be going to Biloxi, MS soon and I know the BR outlet there is a really good one. Hopefully there will be better pricing.

Banana Republic Factory was having 40% off (aren’t they always saying that?). I stopped by with my husband. He wanted to see if there was anything he liked. While he was perusing, I did a mad dash with an armful of clothing. It looked like I hit the jackpot.

While in the petite section, I noticed this straight cut sheath dress with a stretchy fabric. Unfortunately though my mind liked, my body did not like. It was very dull with no shape front or back. It resembled my maternity wear for some reason.

Wow! I love this sheath dress in tweed. Classic shape with a fitted belt at my waist to define it. This was a size 6 petite. Love the length and the arm holes fit with no gaps.

The backside looks fabulous too. I can wear to work, lunch meeting, PTA meetings, kids’ recitals, etc. I think this would be a great addition to my wardrobe.

My my my. I’m on a roll. This is a great fitting trench. The length of the sleeves are great. It has deep pockets which I like. And the belt sits right on my waist.

This is another one I would like to have on my wish list. Back view looks really good. Overall I’m happy with the tweed dress and the black trench.

One of my purchases at the end of this summer season was this Banana Republic Sweater Blazer. It’s made of a terry cottom blend that is lightweight and perfect for the weather Houston has been having. With this outfit I wanted to try the Leg Warmer trend. But I think I failed at it. The Leg Warmers I have are a little schoolish, not trendy as I thought it would be. Maybe with the right outfit I can pull it off. I do like the overall outfit.

Currently these Banana Republic ballet flats are my go to shoes. The Cheetah print has a faux faur texture that is really nice and chic. It is lightly padded however there is no arch support. I can’t tell if this is Cheetah or Leopard except BR lists it as Cheetah on the shoe box. Walking […]

Welcome!

I just turned 30 in October and I'm a mother of 2 little girls, Megan 3, and Emma 1. I love to dress up but with work and running after two kids, I don't have the time or energy. By blogging about fashion, I noticed that I aspire to look better because it makes me feel better. It is also a way to showcase outfits that work or don't work for me. You live and learn through trial and error. Apparently that phrase also applies to fashion.

Please Follow Me

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.